Recipient Stories

Martin suffered severe injuries in a spill on November 24th during a race. Broken femur, multiple broke ribs (in front and back, right and left) and punctured lungs, requiring ventilation during his surgery. While the surgery was a success, and he is doing as well as can be expected, the process is a long one, with some obstacles, in which will tell when and if, he returns to the saddle. (Martin suffered a similar femur break last spring and was off until October.)

Martin and his wife Krystal are raising four children, and no matter how successful of a rider you may be, bills are still present even when there is no income.

Pedro Flores

Pedro Flores Recipient of a Check From The Sam Thompson Memorial Foundation

Pedro Flores was severely injured at Golden Gate Fields a few weeks ago, he was left with a fractured vertebrae that has prevented him from returning to the saddle immediately after the accident. The Sam Thompson Foundation has stepped up to help ease the financial burden while he has been sidelined recovering.

Rider Adrian Valenzuela

The Sam Thompson Foundation Helps To Make a Disabled Rider’s Dreams Come True

Together with our sponsor, Montana Silversmiths, The Sam Thompson Foundation helped make a disabled riders dreams come true. Adrian Valenzuela, together with his father (Martin Valenzuela) got backstage passes to the PBR Iron Cowboy at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Adrian got to meet many of his idols backstage and then have front row seats for the performance. Without the help of dedicated board members, Jim Anderson and Steve Miller, and our sponsors we wouldn’t be able to make these special moments.

Jockey Oscar Andrade was involved in a spill in 2001 that left him a T-4 paraplegic. Oscar’s only request during his rehab was to be able to ride a horse again. 2 months after his accident he was enrolled in a rehab program that allowed him to get back on a horse. It was the only thing he had ever known since he started riding at age 8.

Oscar and his wife Elena contacted the Foundation asking for a saddle that would allow Oscar to return to doing what he loved. The Foundation together with Hickman Saddlery had a custom saddled designed and made just for Oscar that would allow him to start riding again. Now he will be able to return to doing what he loves.

Jockey Alyssa Selman was thrown to the ground and seriously injured when the horse she was riding clipped hooves with the horse in front of her. That night, she underwent surgery for a fractured verebrae and badly damaged spinal cord. At the time of the surgery, the doctors were unsure if Alyssa would be able to ever walk again.

Shortly after Alyssa’s accident, the Sam Thompson Memorial Foundation for Disabled Jockeys heard about her story. The Foundation contacted Alyssa and her physical therapist in order to offer assistance. Alyssa asked the Foundation if she could possibly get a wheelchair that was not specifically covered by her insurance. The Foundation’s response was a resounding “yes!”

Q-RACING JOURNAL—MARCH 2, 2015—Jockey Anne Von Rosen, who was paralyzed in a riding accident last spring, has received a donation from the Sam Thompson Memorial Foundation for Disabled Jockeys.

The executive board of the Thompson Foundation was made aware of Von Rosen’s situation; although Von Rosen owned a vehicle, she had no way to drive without hand held controls. The board chose her to be the very first recipient of the very first foundation donation in the form of hand-held controls for her truck.

“As Anne thanked them for the support, they could hear the emotion in her voice,” noted the Foundation press release. “At that moment, it became clear that The Sam Thompson Foundation was on the right track. It’s equally clear to all those involved with this young foundation that many jockeys and their families would benefit from future donations.”

Since she began riding in 2001, Von Rosen rode 56 winners from 507 starters in American Quarter Horse races, with earnings of $398,274. Among the horses she rode are stakes winners Mr Hawkins, Dakota Lane and Dashing By By. On March 11 at Turf Paradise, the horse she was riding fell, resulting in a serious spinal injury and paralysis of her legs.

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